tcarl

Up until about a month ago I was using a Suntour Cyclone FD on a '84 Cannondale ST with 30-40-50 chainrings. I had used that setup for years. I then swapped around parts and now have on the same bike a Suntour Lepree FD with 30-49-52 chainrings. It also is working beautifully. (That Lepree may very well be the original derailluer that came on the bike in 1984.) So, I just went to my bike/parts stash and held up a Superbe FD against that Lepree - the end of the cage on the Superbe is about 1/4 - 1/2 inch higher than on the Lepree, so you may not be able to use quite as wide of a range, but try it and see. I'd think the Superbe could still handle a fairly wide range between the chainrings. I then went and compared the horizontal range of the Superbe with the Cyclone. Mechanically (the moving parts and the set screws) are identical between them. It appears Suntour used the same "molds" on those two derailleurs, but the Superbe is just a bit shinier - better finish - and seems to have some of the extra metal "pared down" (I assume for lighter weight) compared to the Cyclone. But since the mechanical parts seem to be identical I'd think the Superbe would be able to handle the width of a triple - the Cyclone did. Sorry, I forgot to hold the Superbe up against the Cyclone to compare cage lengths, and now everything's put away and I'm too lazy to dig it all out again to check that measurement. Edit - just for comparison to your proposed setup, I have used both Suntour Accushift indexed barend shifters with a 7 spd. freewheel and Shimano 7 speed indexed bar end shifters with a 7 speed Shimano casette.